Broadly speaking, the method and system of the type to which the present invention relates are not new per se. For example, German Patent No. 4,138,867 shows a rail vehicle wherein a shaft is supported by a means of a roller bearing in a support component mounted on the rail vehicle. More specifically, the outer ring of the conical roller bearing is mounted by a press fit in a narrow tolerance bore in the support component and the inner ring is mounted on a seating surface of the shaft by a press fit and held in a predetermined axial position by lockwashers or rings secured to the shaft or housing. The assembly is in a sealed environment including a labyrinth seal having an outer sealing ring which is located in a recess milled into the outer ring of the bearing and wherein the inner sealing ring is mounted on the shaft.
It has been found that the prior art systems described above have certain disadvantages and drawbacks. For example, in these prior designs, it is necessary to provide a very precise and accurate fit in the bore of the support component and in the bore of the shaft and it is likewise imperative to prevent the bearing rings from rotating with the seating surfaces which can occur under certain unfavorable operating conditions which leads to damage and destruction of the seating surfaces. Furthermore, these bearing assemblies consist of a multiplicity of unconnected components which are rather complicated and cumbersome to disassemble the bearing. This also makes reinstallation difficult and it has been observed that it increases the risk of damaging the individual components of the bearing.